An introduction to Zen Buddhism

AN INTRODUCTION TO ZEN BUDDHISM

Whentherewasasyet nosystemofkoan,Zenwasmore

naturalandpurerperhaps, butitwasonlythefewelectwho

couldgetintothespiritofit.Supposingyouhadlivedinthose

days, whatwouldyoudoifyouwereroughlyshakenbythe

shoulder?Howwouldyoutakeitifyouwerecalledadrydirt-

scraper?Orifyouweresimplyrequestedtohandthecushion

overthere,and,whenyouhadhandedittothemaster,tobe

struckwithit?Ifyouhadadeterminationtofathomthedepths

ofZenasstrongassteel,andafaithinthe"reasonableness"

ofZenwhichwasasfirmastheearth,you,aftermanyyearsof

meditation,mightsucceedinmasteringZen;butsuchexamples

are rare inour modemdays;we are so distractedwithall

kindsofbusinessthatweareunabletowalkallbyourselves

intothelabyrinthinepassagewayofZen.Intheearlydaysof

the T'ang dynasty people were more simple-hearted and

believing, their minds were not crammed with intellectual

biases.Butthisstateofaffairscouldnot,inthenatureofthings,

lastverylong;tomaintainthevitalityofZenitwasnecessary

tofindsomedevicewherebyZencouldbemademoreapproach-

ableandtothatextentmorep)opular;thekoanexercisehadtobe

establishedforthe benefitoftherisinggenerations and also

forthecomingones.ThoughitisinthebeingofZenthatitcan

neverbeapopularreligioninthesensethatShinBuddhismor

Christianityis,yetthefactthatithaskeptupitsUneoftrans-

missionunbrokenforsomanycenturiesis,in myview,prin-

cipallyduetothesystemof^oan.InChina,whereZenoriginated,

itnolongerexistsinitspureform;thelineoftransmissionisno

more,sotransfusedisitwiththePureLandpracticeofinvoking

theBuddha-name.ItisonlyinJapanthatZenisstillvirileand
stillfindsitsorthodoxexjxjnents;andthereiseveryreasonto
believethatthisisduetothesystemofreviewingthekoansin
connectionwiththepracticeoizozen.Thereisnodoubtthatthis
systemislargelyartificialandharboursgravepitfalls,butthe

lifeofZenruns throughit whenit is properlyhandled. To

thosewhopursueitjudiciouslyunderareallycompetentmaster,

Zen-experienceispossibleandastateo(satoriwillsurelycome.

Thus we can see that this Zen-experience is something

realizablebygoingthroughacertainprocessoftraining.That
is,thekoanexerciseisasystemdefinitelysetupwithadefiiiitc

no